I collected baseball cards from the late '80s through 2002. Then I went to college and when I came out, I was lost. There were too many brands, sets, choices, relics, autos, parallels, variations. It was a turn off. However, I slowly made my way back.
So here is my attempt to venture back into the hobby. I'll buy a few packs of cards here and there, comment on some cards I have, send out some TTMs, and follow the progress of my Topps Yankees Project.

Tabs

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

It's weird being really the only market when it comes to collecting certain players. Now, I don't have complete proof of this, but I believe I'm the only person actively chasing Ty Hensley cards.

Even with my Tino Martinez collection, I face competition from Yankees fans, especially for some of his rarer cards and autographs. I still manage to snag most of the ones I want, but it's not easier.

Then you've got the super collectors with collections centered entirely around popular players. I can't imagine how hard it is for Junior Junkie or Collecting Cutch, as both must face a lot of competition for rare cards of Griffey and McCutchen, respectively. Although I have to say, I can't imagine anyone beats those two for key cards of that particular player.

I'd assume P-Town Tom (Vogelmonster) and Zippy Zappy (Torrens) can relate as to being the only market for a certain player. While it's great to not be in a major competition for cards, it can also be frustrating.

For me, Ty Hensley carries the label of "YANKEES FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICK." And that's true. He was. In 2012. Yet many of his cards still carry a premium price because of the interlocking NY, despite Ty's struggle to succeed in pro ball. It's annoying seeing cards I need that are either overpriced, or the seller isn't willing to negotiate. I just want to be like, "dude, if I'm not buying this card, no one is."

Luckily, anytime there is an auction with a minimum bid for a card I need, I usually end up with that card, and usually at the lowest price. So when this autograph numbered to /10 popped up with a $.99 bid, I was all over it.

And won it for $.99. The problem I now face is really the fact that shipping usually outweighs the card cost, but at this point, I don't have a ton of choices if I want to keep building this collection.

Sunday, December 16, 2018

I haven't sent out a TTM request since mid-September. I do have a stack of cards set aside to send at some point, but I just don't have a ton of motivation for sending right now. It happens.

During these lulls, I always find it surprising to come home to a SASE. But I guess that's the fun of having over 100 outstanding requests. You never know when one is going to make its way home.

In this instance, I was thrilled to find a 2018 Topps Series 2 autograph of Chad Green. I just inserted CC Sabathia into my Topps Yankees Project for 2018, although Green is tempting. I think I'll stick with CC, but I am really happy to get this back.

Green has been an awesome reliever for the Yanks the last two years. He came to NY (along with Luis Cessa) from the Tigers in exchange for Justin Wilson. He was shifted to the 'pen full time in '17, and his numbers the last two years have been terrific:

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

In 2016, it was the debut duo of Tyler Austin (now a Twin), and Aaron Judge.

In 2017, it was the Rookie of the Year celebration for Aaron Judge.

In 2018, I'm changing it up a little. I had a weird relationship with cards in 2018. I didn't buy as many. I was, and still am, unenthusiastic about many of the releases and the lack of creativity on inserts, and sets in general. My best pickups weren't even from 2018, such as my Ty Hensley Superfractor to complete my 2013 Bowman Draft Rainbow.

I've been harping a little on it on Twitter, but during my card sorting process recently, it's so hard to look at inserts of the '90s and early '00s versus some of the current releases. They are an afterthought; often a way just to shove more legends in a set and celebrate things like first hit or first home run. Which is all well and good, but the insert sets over the last few years have all blended together into a forgettable mass. Even the ones that stray a little and have some design element to them feel lackluster, such as 'Legends in the Making' or 'Don't Blink' from 2018. I think part of it is a lack of texture or interesting printing techniques.

Aside from the ramble above, cards were hard to find in 2018! I went to Target a bunch of times in search for newer releases, and my Target was usually pretty empty. Sure, there is a little thing called the internet, but the day I order a blaster online will be a first.

Regardless, I did have a favorite insert set this year. It dawned on me that in a few different posts, I consistently said that I thought the 1983 Topps Chrome Refractors were the nicest cards this year. Because while most inserts may stink, especially ones that continue to beat old sets into our brains, Refractors are the same awesomeness in 2018 as they were 25 years ago when they first debuted.

Side note - how was there not an 'Ode to Refractors' insert set on their 25th Anniversary??? (1993-2018)
So with that, my card of the year is this Giancarlo Stanton 1983 Topps Chrome Refractor:

Why Stanton? Well, I think 2018 will always be remembered by me for his debut season with the Yankees. It was right at this time last year when ninja Brian Cashman made the move to obtain Stanton. I remember watching coverage late into the night, hardly believing it was a reality. It definitely defined the 2017 offseason and 2018 season for me. Giancarlo was a Yankee.

He had a fine year, with 38 homers and 100 RBIs. He was a good teammate and I think he enjoyed being in a winning environment after his years in Miami. Sure, it wasn't his 59-homer MVP season from 2017, but it was a good year. And part of me thinks his year 2 will be even bigger, just like Alex Rodriguez's second year in New York.

1983 is also the year I was born, so we've got the whole birth-year set going for me. I've never really had an attachment to 1983 Topps, but still, just an added element to this card.

Friday, December 7, 2018

I think last year I felt a bit weird knowing my baseball hero was turning 50, and I remember him when he was in his late 20s and early 30s, cranking high fast balls over the right field wall at Old Yankee Stadium.

There's not much special about 51 (other than being Bernie's #!), but hopefully Tino continues to enjoy his 50s and then I feel extra old in 9 years when he turns 60.

As luck would have it, a new Tino arrived in the mail yesterday. I had known this existed and wanted it for a while, but never quite pulled the trigger. Finally I saw one in my saved search for the right price, and not wanting it to escape me again, I made the purchase.

This card is 199 Skybox Molten Metal. Specifically, it's an Explosion parallel, and is actually a metal card with rounded die cut edges. The best I can compare it to is that it feels similar to a printing plate. These Xplosion cards fell at a rate of 1:2, so while not rare, it's not always the easiest set to find for player collectors.

I don't think this metal card will replace 1999 Topps Stars N Steel as my favorite metal-based set of all time, although this has a bit of a cleaner look and feels a little sturdier.

Regardless, it's a great card to show off of Tino on his birthday, and puts me at 856 unique Tinos.

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

The last few weeks, I've been trying to go through a few monster boxes of Yankees in an effort to divide the cards by a few notable players. I've also been setting aside dupes in hopes of selling a Yankees lot on the online marketplaces before Christmas.

This exercise has led me to see a lot of cards. A lot of ugly cards. But one sticks out, so much so that I'm pretty sure I have refused to even keep one copy of it.

Here it is:

This card is ugly on so many levels. I'll start with the player. I don't think there is a more disliked Yankee than Jacoby Ellsbury. Now, I don't blame him one bit for taking the Yankees contract offer. It was a bad deal and they likely blew everyone out of the water for his services. We'd all take 7 years, $153 million. Seriously, can't fault the dude for that.

He never made himself endearing to the fanbase the way former Boston players did, including Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens, and Johnny Damon. He just never really connected with the fans or did anything on the field to make you forget his past life.

He really had one good year in Boston. Many acknowledged at the time of the deal that he likely wouldn't stay healthy. And by and large, that has been true. Games played during the contract: 149, 111, 148, 112, 0. Two out of five seasons over 140 games. Two years left to go on the deal, and a crowded outfield. Hopefully, for the sake of both player and organization, the Yankees can find a way to send him elsewhere, maybe taking on a bad contract in return, preferably one that can eat some innings.

Aside from the player, the card is u-g-l-y.

First, the design. This was Panini's first foray into the Donruss baseball brand, and the base set is brutally unattractive. The borders are tragically massive, cutting off much of the player's photo.

The font in which the city name is written feels out of place. Not quite script. Not quite italics.

And the logos. Now we all know Panini can't use team logos. It's what has prohibited some decent looking sets from really gaining traction with collectors. But in this instance, Ellsbury is seen still wearing red from his Red Sox days (understandable, but come on), with his name scrawled across the back of his jersey. If you're going to try and Yankeefy him a little bit, at least remove the name during the airbrushing process.

This card is ugly. The player has no role on a team that has no room for him. He rarely stays on the field, and when he does, he doesn't show the game-changing skills he possessed earlier in his career.

Saturday, December 1, 2018

CC Sabathia is returning home to the Yankees, as he signed a one-year deal a few weeks ago. It'll be his 11th season with the Yankees and the 19th overall of his borderline Hall Of Fame career. He said that 2019 will be it. With four more wins, he'll get to 250 for his career. With 16 Ks, he'll eclipse 3,000 strikeouts. He's got a World Series and a Cy Young Award to his name, as well as six All-Star appearances. He's got another 10 Ws in the post-season.

Yes, he should get some serious consideration in a few years when his name is on the ballot.

He's already a HOFer in my book because for the second time in three years, he returned a card signed to me that I sent him.

I saw a few successes popping up on Twitter, some from spring training 2017. I was hoping that would mean mine was on its way back, and luckily, today brought one little SASE.

When I cracked it open, this card was staring back at me:

Looks beautiful, doesn't it?

CC has been a great TTM signer, scrawling his name on cards for over two decades. Hopefully the HOF voters are the ones checking his name off the ballot six years from now.

For the most part, Topps does a really good job of getting players traded at the non-waiver trade deadline into update. I was very happy to see guys like Zack Britton and JA App make their Yankee card debuts.

However, over the last few seasons, we're seeing more and more meaningful acquisitions happening in late August around bigger names. In 2018, Andrew McCutchen, Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, and Curtis Granderson were among the names traded prior to September 1. In 2017, Justin Verlander and Justin Upton were moved during this time.

I know Topps has checklist and production deadlines, but when cards like the one below make an appearance as an SP, it makes me wish they'd push those deadlines back a few weeks to get a full scope of the players who were traded, rather than waiting until 2019 Series One, when a lot of those players are likely on a new team.

If the set came out around Thanksgiving time or so, it'd be much more representative. I know then one could say - why not push it further and get in World Series highlights or post-season awards? All fair. But I think that pushing deadlines through August acquisitions versus pushing through the World Series and postseason awards sounds a bit more manageable, and would make for a few happier collectors, me included.

I get that it's easier than ever now to get these acquisition cards with the emergence of Topps NOW, but I'd still love Update to be an actual regular season update versus an update through July 31 with a possible SP or two snuck in.